Don't
by distorted-me
Summary: It was cold. And wet. So unlike this time of year should be. The war was over, and the world should have been full of sunshine and laughter, but it wasn't. Life for her could be no darker; no fuller of dispair. All around her people celebrated, and life continued, and the war was over, but here she was, staring at a grave that shouldn't exist and wondering where it all went wrong.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **I think I am doomed to never finish a single, multi chaptered story ever. The voices in my head won't shut up long enough for me to do so. *sigh* ENJOY!

**SUMMARY: It was cold. And wet. So unlike this time of year should be. The war was over, and the world should have been full of sunshine and laughter, but it wasn't. Not for her. Life could be no darker; no fuller of dispair. All around her people celebrated, and life continued, and the war was over, but here she was, staring at a grave that shouldn't exist and wondering where it all went wrong.**

* * *

**Chapter One: The Boy Who Isn't Here**

_Do not stand at my grave and weep,_

_I am not there. I do not sleep._

_I am a thousand winds that blow._

_I am the diamond glints on snow._

_I am the sunlight on ripened grain._

_I am the gentle autumn rain._

_When you awaken in the morning's hush,_

_I am the swift uplifting rush,_

_Of quiet birds in circled flight._

_I am the soft stars that shine at night._

_Do not stand at my grave and cry;_

_I am not there. I did not die._

_**Mary Elizabeth Frye**_

* * *

**Harry James Potter**

_**31st July, 1981- 2nd May, 1998**_

_'You always shined in times of darkness'_

It was cold. And wet. So unlike this time of year should be. The war was over, and the world should have been full of sunshine and laughter, but it wasn't. Not for her. Life could be no darker; no fuller of dispair. All around her people celebrated, and life continued, and the war was over, but here she was, staring at a grave that shouldn't exist and wondering where it all went wrong.

_"He's not coming back, Ginny." _

_"He isn't gone."_

_"Ginny. He **is** gone. We buried him. What more do you need?"_

Ginny barked out a harsh laugh. _"There is no body in that grave Ronald. We all know that. He could be alive somewhere. Maybe he doesn't remember. Maybe he's trapped somewhere and can't get back to us."_

Ron heaved a long sigh as he stared at his baby sister. _"Gin- You can't do this to yourself. You must accept that he isn't coming back. There were no bodies because of how the wands reacted. You heard what the Aurors said. They didn't find Snake Faces body either. Does that mean that he still lives?"_

_"No..."_ It was a whisper...almost covered by the wind, but it was there. Ginnys heartbreaking denial that the love of her life was never coming home. Harry Potter was gone, and no matter how hard she wished otherwise, she finally had to admit, that this time was for good.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Before It All Went Wrong**

_**FLASHBACK**_

_"What do you think it'll be like? After Hogwarts I mean?" asked Ginny quietly._

_She and Harry had been lying in the grass for hours, conveniently hidden from view by the long branches of the willow tree they had taken refuge under earlier that morning._

_"Quiet," said Harry with a small laugh._

_"Git," she laughed back._

_"Do you think we'll survive Hogwarts?" he asked after some time._

_It was a thought that neither of them wanted to entertain, but sadly, the threat of all-out war was upon them, and the Order, which they were unofficial members of, dwindled in numbers every day._

_"Most definitely. Didn't you hear the Prophecy about the Savior and the Ginger and the half dozen demon spawns they unleash on the world?" she asked joking._

_"No," Harry laughed out, "tell me about it."_

_"I just did, you Prat. You finish school and we get married and have a half dozen kids, all red heads like me, who we let savagely destroy wizarding Britain…unless you're meant to marry Ron, in which case you'll be even more famous, cause wizards don't have babies with other wizards. It just isn't possible."_

_"You are very warped."_

_"I have six brothers. I think I turned out smashing if you ask me," she smiled, and you could hear it in her voice._

_They laid there in a comfortable silence for some time more, until they heard Molly calling for dinner._

_"Harry," Ginny asked in a whisper, "can we stay like this forever? Just pretend Voldemort doesn't exist, and Hogwarts doesn't exist, and just stay here under this tree?"_

_Harry didn't have to see her face to know the fear behind those words._

_"You know I can't do that Gin. I can't just ignore that He's out there. I can't let others suffer when I know that I can end this. I just need a little more time is all. And you need to finish your education. You have OWLs this year, and let me tell you, that is a whole new kind of nightmare. You'll be lucky to make it through the day without falling asleep in class. Preferably in History of Magic, cause Binns won't care," he laughed half-heartedly. "We'll make it through this Gin, and I'll go to work for the Ministry, and you'll become some famous Chaser, and we'll have a bunch of kids, and everything will be as it should. We'll get a chance to be happy and free for once. Let's just graduate school first."_

_**END FLASHBACK**_

That had been, Ginny decided, one of the best days of her life. Though neither had said it then, that was the day that she and Harry had decided to spend the rest of their lives together. Lying in the grass at the Burrow, hundreds of miles from the waging war; it had been easy to imagine a future together. Now that future was gone. Decimated before it had even begun, and like so many others, Ginny was left to pick up the pieces, and move on with her life in whatever way she could. No one had escaped the cruel hands of war, but the Weasleys it seemed, had suffered more than most. Bill had been grievously injured by Fenrir Greyback. George had lost an ear. Fred and Percy had lost their lives. Ron had lost Hermione, who had been tortured beyond insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange, and now held permanent residence in the Janus Thickey Ward of St. Mungo's (just two doors down from Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom), and Ginny had lost her Harry.

Somewhere in that summer before her fifth year, Harry Potter had ceased being Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, and had become Just Harry. Ginny realized that she loved the boy who was the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, and the youngest seeker in a century. She loved the Harry that was Ron's best friend, and spent as much of the summer and holiday breaks at the Burrow as he could, simply because that was the closest thing to home he had ever had. Ginny had, for as long as she could remember, loved Harry Potter, Savior of the Wizarding World, until one day she woke up and realized that that person did not exist.

It had been a long and lazy summer, one in which people did more, and loved more, because there was an overwhelming sense of foreboding in the air, and even those who did not possess the gift of Sight knew that come Fall, their world was going to change. Ron and Hermione became closer; Bill and Fleur were engaged; Percy made amends; and Harry and Ginny quietly drifted together. No one took anything for granted any more, and if anyone had any unfinished business, they made sure to tie up their loose ends quickly.

* * *

"Ginny…" Harry didn't even know what to say. Before him stood the girl he loved with all his heart, and it was becoming quickly apparent that by loving her, she would never be safe.

"Don't," she snapped, eyes glistening with tears, though from sadness or anger, Harry couldn't tell.

"Ginny please-"

"Don't _'Ginny please'_ me Harry Potter. This is utter shit and you know it. Whether you love me or not, even if you pretend that you don't, it isn't going to matter, because I love you, and I will never stop loving you, and I don't give a damn if Voldemort knows it or not. I'm not afraid. Don't let him dictate your life, Harry. He's already made you miserable enough. Don't give him this. Don't give him us!"

"Ginny I have to keep you safe. I won't let your life be risked because He is after me. It's too dangerous right now. Maybe when the war is over, and things have settled down…"

"So you expect me to just wait?"

"No-"

"Because I won't," Ginny cried, tears spilling down her cheeks. "I'm not that doe-y eyed school girl I used to be. I'm not in love with a Hero. I couldn't care less about the bloody Boy Who Lived. I care about you, Harry. Just Harry. And I thought you cared about me, but it's obvious now that you don't."

They were fighting again. Always about the same thing. Harry putting distance between them in an effort to keep her safe, and her retaliating saying she didn't need protecting, that this was just as much her fight as it was his, and that if she was going to be with him, she was going to be with him right, for better or for worse, even before they made any vows.

"I love you Harry," she screamed, and then seemed to realize what she had said. "I love you. And nothing is ever going to change that. I have loved you, in one way or another, for as long as I can remember. And I will keep loving you until Death takes me. Even if we don't end up together, you are my first love Harry, and you will always have a piece of my heart. Please don't do this. Don't walk away. I can't lose you."

Harry was done for. It had become increasingly hard for him to say no to her, and this was just the final straw.

"I can't lose you either. Please Ginny, let's just lay low for a while. Act like we've broken up. I promise when this is over, I'll shout it from the rooftops that I, Harry James Potter, love you, Ginerva Molly Weasley, and that I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you, if you'll still have me."

"I'll always have you Harry," she whispered as she held him close and cried into his chest.

That had been towards the end of her fifth year, before things got bad, and Dumbledore died, and Harry left in the midst of spell fire. If she had known then, what she knew now, she may have even held on to him a little tighter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: War**

Dumbledore died at the end of her fifth year, murdered, Harry said, by none other than Professor Snape. The whole school took it hard, and students were sent home a week early to grieve for the loss. Harry was rescued from Number 4 Privet Drive after only three days, and deposited to The Burrow, where he was to be kept safe. They didn't talk about the future, or what they meant to each other, and Harry grew distant and cold. They had a fight in the garden one night, just weeks before school was to start, that ended in them kissing, and Harry breaking down, admitting in his weakness that this had been the hardest six months of his life, and that with each passing day, he believed less and less that he would see the end of this war. Dumbledore had left him a job to do, and he had no idea how to do it. More and more people were dying every day, and Harry feared that he was the sole cause of it. He told Ginny not to wait on him, to move on and find someone else; someone who would keep her safe, but she held on tighter, and refused to let him go.

The Burrow saw a slight respite in the glum atmosphere with the wedding of Fleur and Bill, but even that was ruined, and in the middle of the chaos, Harry, Ron and Hermione quietly disappeared. Molly and Ginny were distraught of course, and when no one heard from the Trio for another six months, everyone assumed the worst, and counted the three among the dead. The Wizarding World fell into desolation and despair, but no one felt the loss as deeply as Ginny. She went through the motions, and rallied the troops, and made a solemn vow to spear Voldy herself the next time he came round.

It was a great surprise then, when on the first day of May, almost a year after they had disappeared, word came that Harry Potter had been spotted in Hogsmeade. The student body screamed in outrage at the blatant lie, and mocked the person who dare try and pose as their deceased savior, but then Neville left on a message from Aberforth and returned post haste with the Golden Trio in tow. Gryffindor house wept that night, out of triumph and joy, and as hugs were shared Ginny Weasley came rushing in and the whole world stopped. Her urgent message died on her lips and all she saw in that moment, was her dear Harry, come back to life.

"Ginny-" he breathed, and she ran towards him.

His arms wrapped around her had never felt so good, and she wept into his shoulder.

"Harry- Y-You're dead. You disappeared, and they said-"

"I'm so sorry. I couldn't write. It wasn't safe."

"Snape knows. He knows you were spotted in Hogsmeade. It isn't safe here. You have to go."

The words sounded foreign to her ears, her telling Harry to leave. All she had dreamt of for the past several months was that he would return to her unharmed, and hold her in his arms, and their Happily Ever After would finally come true. But now was not the time. War was upon them, and Voldemort would be closing in soon. Snape no doubt, had already sent word, and the students of Hogwarts were being summoned to the Great Hall.

"No," he had said resolutely. "No more running. This ends tonight."

"Harry, you aren't strong enough, what about your task?"

"That's why I'm here. The final horcrux is here, and I intend to destroy it. And then it's just Voldemort and me."

And so Harry Potter marched into the Great Hall with the rest of the Gryffindor students, and made his stand against the new Headmaster, and the rest, as they say, is history. Only history didn't see the promises made, ones that should have been kept, but by death were broken. History did not see the Golden Boy bent on one knee, promising to love, and honor, and cherish his spitfire girl. History did not see her acceptance of his proposal, and history most certainly did not see them steal away to some secret corridor and give themselves to one another in a moment of passion. History only saw what had been fated to be all those years ago. And so Eris, the Goddess of Chaos, laughed on her throne, as mayhem and discord ran wild on the mortals below.

* * *

2nd May, 1998, is a day that will forever live in the history of the wizarding world. It is the day that the greatest evil the world has ever known, was finally destroyed. It is the day that thousands of innocent people, magical and muggle alike, lost their lives, and it is the day that Harry Potter, Savior of the Wizarding World, disappeared, leaving behind only a wand, and was therefore, proclaimed dead. And in their final preparations to honor their fallen hero, they found a poem, which simply read:

_Do not stand at my grave and weep,_

_I am not there. I do not sleep._

_I am a thousand winds that blow._

_I am the diamond glints on snow._

_I am the sunlight on ripened grain._

_I am the gentle autumn rain._

_When you awaken in the morning's hush,_

_I am the swift uplifting rush,_

_Of quiet birds in circled flight._

_I am the soft stars that shine at night._

_Do not stand at my grave and cry;_

_I am not there. I did not die._

**_Mary Elizabeth Frye_**

**THE END**

* * *

**A/N**: Me thinks we need a sequel to this naughty little temptress. How about you, my loyal readers?


	4. Chapter 4

The sequel to this story, entitled 'Remember Me' is in production, and the first two chapters have been posted with a third on the way shortly. I hope you enjoy.


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